take. and by the way, that's not a good hit for businesses either. >> well, good morning. i'm bill karins and this is "way too early," the show that has allowed me to borrow the car which i can crash at any time. thanks for being up this morning. we have a lot to talk about on this tuesday, december 11th, including new indications that talks may be picking up between president obama and john boehner about the fiscal cliff. also massive protests planned today in egypt and follow-up on the clashes between activists and the military as they call for a million man march. but first let's get to the news here live at 30 rock in new york city. this morning thousands of people are expected to converge on the michigan state capital in lansing as apartment of a troeshlg union battle that's about to unfold. at issue, the so called "right to work." legislation is being pushed through the republican lawmakers that could come to a final vote as early as today. the law would might illegal to

require an employee to pay union dues as a condition of their employment. opponents say the legislation threatens to weaken the influence of labor unions in a state that is home to the auto industry and has a long history of organized labor. during a visit to detroit yesterday where he intendeded to focus on the fiscal clivgs president obama waded head first into the union battle. >> what we shouldn't be doing is trying to take away your right to bargain for better wages. we shouldn't be doing that. you know, these so-called right-to-work laws, that i don't have to do with economics. they have everything do with politics. what they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money. you only have to look to michigan where workers were instrumental in reviving the auto industry to see how unions have helps build not just a stronger middle sclas but a

stronger america. >> well, the legislation has already passed through the michigan senate and is expected to clear the house. michigan's republican governor rick snyder says when the bill reaches his desk, he'll sign it and make it into a new law. first rule of the fiscal cliff talks, don't talk about the fiscal cliff talk. both president obama and speaker boehner are sticking to their mary tore yum to not talk about how negotiations are going, which most analysts say is a good sign. according to the walg street journal, people directly involved say they've taken a recent shift in days with the staff and leaders on both sides are getting more serious. not sure why they weren't in the first place. yesterday in michigan the president said he was open to spending cuts but held firm to raising taxes on the wealthiest americans. >> what you need is a package that keeps tacks where they are for middle-class families, we make some tough spending cuts on things we don't need, and then

we ask the wealthiest americans to pay a splietly higher tax rate and that's a sprins pl i won't compromise on because i'm not going to have a situation where the wealthiest among us, including folks like me, get to keep all of our tax breaks and then we're asking students to pay higher student loans. >> ah, but republican senator lindsey graham isn't holding back on what he thinks of the president's plan. while acknowledging the republicans my lose, he says it will be a different story when the debt ceiling comes into play just a short time from now. >> here's where the president is going to have a rude awakening. we'll get to the end of the year, and there'll probably be some small deal to get us past the end of the year because sequestration hits in january. but in february or march, you have to raise the debt ceiling, and i can tell you this. there's a hardening of the republican side. we're not going to raise the debt ceiling. we're not going to let president obama borrow any more money or

anybody else before fixing the country and preventing it from becoming greece. the game you're talking about is small ball. you're talking about raising the ceiling for 11 days. how about doing something big these not liberal. every idea is a liberal idea. how about manning up, mr. president and use your mandate to bring this country together to stop us from becoming greece. >> man up. with jim demint leaving, a new poll shows who they wants a his replacement. put your votes in. a very funny south carolinian. the one and only stephen colbert. the comedian miami tops the list. this is an honest poll. 20%. tim scott comes in second. colbert addressed the

speculation around his potential candidacy on his show last night. >> there's already a twitter page, facebook, draft colbert website. i can tell you having done a show with him in charleston, he's an absolute rock star in that state. >> yes, i am a rock star in south carolina and not just because i ended my rally there with herman cain by biting the head off a dove. now, my network contract prohibits me from taking on another full-time job, so the sfl senate would be perfect. south carolina senator decie in the seat until the election in 2014. jim demint is leaving next month to head the senator think tank. president obama hasn't made

a decision yet on hillary clinton's replacement at the state department, but susan rice and senator john kerry are rumored to be the top picks. john mccain is wouch the harshest critics. he accused her of the attacks on benghazi. some say her handling of benghazi make hers unqualified for the position. but mccain's committee move may not be just about susan riechls his time. his office confirmed he's interested in the foreign relations post but no decision been made. so what do korean wrapper psy, president obama, and todd akin have in common? of course, very little. every year they compile a list of the most notable quotes and each has been listed. psy for his opening "gangnam

style" song. todd akin made his list for his legitimate rape comment. let leak at the top three. president obama's "you didn't build that" comes in at number three. number two, mitt romney on whole binders full of women he recited for applications in massachusetts. and you probably already guessed number one. mitt romney again on the 47% of americans that, quote, are dependent upon government who believe that they are victims. well, now, turning to overseas news, mass protests are expected today once again in egypt with opponents and supporters of president morsi on a violent collision course through the streets of cairo, this as a front page story in the new york times details how morsi ice supporters captured, detained and beat dozens of political opponents last week outside the presidential palace raising more questions about the

president's afternoon. that has been watched as it's unfolded. he joins us lierchlt good morning, eamon. >> reporter: good morning, bill. now, a similar protest that took place last week left at least eight people dead as rival members of the two protests clached outside the presidential palace and there are growing fears it could happen again today. what happened is the liberal front. they're yorlg nicing a protest to reject the constitution, to reject plans by him. they' they're marching on to the presidential palace today. at the same time the supporters, they're going to be holding their rallies, and there's always tension when the two of them are on the streets aet the same time because this country is as polarized as it's ever been over the constitution scheduled for a vote on

saturday. bill? >> ahman, i've been watching these? >> there's no doubt the attention is always on cairo because the politicians are here and the power bases of the two groupings are here. in fact, in some cases they ooh been more vie leapt than the ones in office. offices have been torched in many cities across egypt and more importantly similar protests are continuing today. they're expecting hundreds of thousands of protesters on a nationwide level to take back the streets to try to push back the referendum. it's not going to be clear by the end of the day if that's going to happen but certainly a great deal of tension in a charged atmosphere in egypt. bill? >> what about saturday? another day of violence expected? >> well, that's a very tough question to answer right now

because the backdrop is one of great tension. there's also other develops that raise questions as to whether or not this referendum can take place on time. egypt's judges are rumored to be boy caughting the referendum. that hasn't been finalized or confirmed. meanwhile the egyptian military has been authorized by the president with law enforcement powers. they will now serve and function at the police force until the referendum which has a lot of human rights people concerned. they're going to protect the police stations. the governments as they had to take that measure to ensure a safe and free and transparent vote. so a lot of uncertainty about whether or not this will be pulled off. >> definitely history in the making. thank you. nbc's eamahman mow deed. a new pentagon report offers a bleak assessment of how ready the afghan forces are to take

over the job. the semiannual report to congress found that only one of the afghan national army's 23 brigades are able to operate independently without the aid of u.s. support. the taliban remains determined and resilient. as always, let me know why you're awake. shoot me an e-mail at way too early@msnbc.com or text me to awake followed by your response to 622639. we'll read the best responses. still ahead of "way too early," new england. new daddy of a baby girl mr. tom bade brady dismantles the houston texans on "monday night football." in case you just missed this one. you might be asked to remove the

wildlife. yes, the fan is holding a raccoon. we'll explain what's going on there and get a check of your weather when way too early comes right back. federal authorities say stock market tycoon has confessed to mavis scam that bilked at least $50 million from investors. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

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for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. for more information including cost support options, try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. the christmas tree looking just fine. a little snow wouldn't heard instead of the gloomy clouds and rain. we're still looking at rain from

philadelphia to new york city. if you're leefrping your house right now, we have an hour's worth of rain and light showers heading into the area. this is heading up into boston. so driving anywhere, connecticut, rhode island, mass, you're going to have to deal with a little bit of light rain. the other spot, yet we had some tonights and thunderstorms in south florida. that's the only two wet spots out there. you can see the radar driving across 75. that will be the only trouble spot out there. forecast trouble-wise we had the cold and snow over the weekend. slowly warming up. we're going do a snow melt all week long. by the weekend we should melt a good deal of it. temperatures in the teen. if you're definitely in the midwest, deep south, bundle yourself and the kids up. it's going to be typical cold winter. over the next seven days the blue line shows you where all the cold air is. by about thursday it's gone. it retreats back up to canada. it's not till saturday or sunday that some of the cold air will held back to the east coast.

the forecast, very nice, cooler. no real travel concerns. just watch those storms down there in the sunshine state. well now let's turn to sports and before i get to the patriots highlights, mike barnicle, i hope that every morning you and all the new england fans wake up and thank tom brady. you've been going for a decade with this glory ride and it makes me sick. >> what a beating they gave them. >> you know how lucky you are, right? >> oh, absolutely, yeah. >> some day you will have mark sanchez. >> no, no, we're not going to have mark sanchez. >> yes, you will. >> that's not going to happen. >> let's get to sports in the nfl. patriots hosting the texans. no disrespect to the broncos. this could be an afc championship preview. interception pras, brady. brandon loi. who was covered him. there was almost 21-0 as they went to the half. third quarter, more from tom brady. this one -- i didn't know this

guy was still in the nfl. donte' stallworth breaks away and gets into the end zone. that's 28-0 brady -- patriots. did i just call it brady? is that the name of the team? danny woodhead, used to be a jet. never should have let him go. followed by j.j. watson. into tend zone. touchdown recovered there. brandon lloyd, second of the game. this one goes all new england. 42-14. brady and the patriots now just one game back of the texans for top soap and home field advantage in the playoffs. >> more news from the nfl. redskins fans, we're holding our breath. rg3 helped off the field on sunday. yesterday coach mike shanahan struck a hopeful tone when discussing the quarterback. >> he has a mild strain of the acl, grade i. he's had some mild swelling. he had his right knee repaired,

acl in 2009. that looks great. no problem there. we'll evaluate it day by day and see how he is on wednesday. i was talking to him today. he feels pretty good. >> griffin has not been ruled on on sunday's game against brown but if he can't go, they'll go back to kirk cousins from michigan state who will be making his possible first start. now to cincinnati, fans come for the football and stay for the wildlife encounter. this brave samaritan actually scooped up the raccoon who was loose in the stands. he calmly walked him out of the section and out of harm's way. the man had to understood go raby's treatment after suffering a bite from the raccoon. barnacle. what's that like, those injections? >> they're painful and they take a long time to recover.

but in my case, they give it to the raccoon. >> nice. foaming from the mouth barnacle. turning to the nba, bizarre moment. the trail blazers make a harmless free throw. okay. give it back to the ref. no, no. amir johnson, give it back to the ref. well, that got him thrown out of the game. johnson then stalks the ref, restrained by teammates, and then you saw that? he actually threw his mouthpiece at the official. hit him in the back. that's a fine. suspension. that will be forth coming from the league shortly. the official didn't say anything to him and he just, quote, lost his cool. i don't want too be in the line noekt him. finally we turn to baseball where a new mega deal by the dodgers. they hit the power ball that gave him the most opening day payroll in history. they tweeted yesterday the team had tweeted.

zack greinke. it will pay him $147 million in over six years. the richest contract ever for a right-handed pitcher. that pushes the dodgers' 2013 payroll ahead of the new york yankees. it also surpasses them in 2008 that was the highest of $209 million. 2008 yankees, by the way, were the lastian's team since the 1994 season not to make the playoffs. 're putting jinx on the dodgers. >> coming up on "morning joe," another battle. two years after the showdown in wisconsin after the republicans push a right-to-work bill in michigan. the auto worker capital of the country. and when we come back here, we'll hudding around the water cooler where jimmy kimmel has some solutions to your holiday shopping blues. that and more when "way too early" comes right back.

well, enough with that real news. let's huddle around the water cooler with louie louie. louie, what's the latest? yesterday is going to be tough to top. >> thank you. there was a majority feel on the floor. he got a little sidetracked with one particular sidetrack of ben nelson's appearance. take a look. >> i think if the truth were

known, many, many senators would be very envious as i am, and i would eve think the presiding officer, that hair of ben nelson's. i mean that is a mop of real hair. it's often that people call his office. they believe he had a toupee. it's his hair. he'll pull it for you any time just to show you that it's real. i mean he has hair like a 15-year-old, mr. president. and so i have to acknowledge i am a little envious of his hair. >> as you can see, senator reid is not wrong. that is a flowing mane of silver hair. >> the best thing was unsaid. the smile. just let that go. >> let's move on from here. we've talked enough about hair

over the past few days. let's go to tennis star novak djokovic. he's in the news but not for his play on the court. according to reports, djokovic has purchased the entire annual supply of the world's donkey cheese. it's the world's most expensive cheese at $585 a town. the cheese is made in his home country of serve ba at a donkey farm. according to reports djokovic will use the cheese at a chain of restaurants he's opening across hiss home country. the farmers must hand milk the donkeys up to three time as day. that's impressive. cleopatra, apparently maintained her beauty while bathing in the milk. although that's not what it's going to be used for. djokovic is not the first athlete/celebrity to make a foray into the restaurant business. can remember hulk hogan and his pasta mania chain restaurant. i hope this works out a little better for djokovic. >> i don't believe any of your

donkey cheese studio. if you get it here in the studio, aisle try it. >> bill, if you've got the 585 bucks for the pound of cheese, i will get it for you. >> i will work on it. bottle collection. still ahead on "way too early," why you're awake. your morning texts and twitters are next. "morning joe" just moments away. [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again.

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